There has been a particular concern brought up in the last half a century of gaining access to data from a drill string. As exploration and drilling technology has improved, this goal has become more important in the industry for successful oil, gas, and geothermal well exploration and production. Vital information such as temperature, pressure, inclination, salinity, etc. would be of great benefit to those designing drilling components. Several attempts have been made to devise a successful system for accessing such drill string data. However, due to the complexity, expense, and unreliability of such systems, many attempts to create such a system have failed to achieve significant commercial acceptance.
This invention relates to oil and gas drilling, particularly to apparatus for reliably transmitting information between downhole drilling components.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,193,526 to Hall et al, which is herein incorporated by reference for all that is contains discloses a double shouldered downhole tool connection comprised of box and pin connections having mating threads intermediate mating primary and secondary shoulders. The connection further comprises a secondary shoulder component retained in the box connection intermediate a floating component and the primary shoulders. The secondary shoulder component and the pin connection cooperate to transfer a portion of makeup load to the box connection. The downhole tool may be selected from the group consisting of drill pipe, drill collars, production pipe, and reamers. The floating component may be selected from the group consisting of electronics modules, generators, gyroscopes, power sources, and stators. The secondary shoulder component may comprises an interface to the box connection selected from the group consisting of radial grooves, axial grooves, tapered grooves, radial protrusions, axial protrusions, tapered protrusions, shoulders, and threads.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,190,084 to Hall et al, which is herein incorporated by reference for all that is contains discloses a method and apparatus that uses the flow of drilling fluid to generate electrical energy in a downhole environment. A substantially cylindrical housing comprises a wall having an inlet, an outlet, and a hollow passageway therebetween. A flow of drilling fluid through the hollow passageway actuates a generator located therein, such that the generator generates electricity to power downhole tools, sensors, and networks. The miniaturization of the generator within the housing wall facilitates an unobstructed flow of drilling fluid through the central borehole of a drill string, while allowing for the introduction of tools and other equipment therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,508 to Tubel et al, which is herein incorporated by reference for all that is contains discloses an electrical generating apparatus which connects to the production tubing. In a preferred embodiment, this apparatus includes a housing having a primary flow passageway in communication with the production tubing. The housing also includes a laterally displaced side passageway communicating with the primary flow passageway such that production fluid passes upwardly towards the surface through the primary and side passageways. A flow diverter may be positioned in the housing to divert a variable amount of production fluid from the production tubing and into the side passageway. In accordance with an important feature of this invention, an electrical generator is located at least partially in or along the side passageway. The electrical generator generates electricity through the interaction of the flowing production fluid.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,867,655 to Stengel et al, which is herein incorporated by reference for all that is contains discloses an invention relating to an energy conversion device which may be selectively operated in the pump mode for converting electrical energy into fluid energy or in the generator mode for converting fluid energy into electrical energy. The improved device has a hollow toroidal body with a central axis on which are located opposed inlet and outlet openings. Enclosed in the body on the central axis between the openings are a coil circle, a rotatable circular rotor having an impeller with a number of radial blades fixed thereto, and a fixed circular diffuser having a number of spaced radial vanes secured thereto. The coil circle is formed of a number of electromagnetic coils which are connected to an electrical power supply in the pump mode to produce a travelling electromagnetic wave which rotates about the central axis and cuts radial spokes of the rotor. The fluid flow path through the device in either mode begins with an axial portion. Then a radial outward portion, a radial inward portion, and ends with a second axial portion along the same axis as the first axial portion. The components of the device are formed to provide that the radial portions of the flow path are substantially semicircular wherein the efficiency of the device is substantially constant over a wide range of variations in speed and capacity.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,848,503 to Schultz et al, which is herein incorporated by reference for all that is contains discloses a power generating system for a downhole operation having production tubing in a wellbore including a magnetized rotation member coupled to the wellbore within the production tubing, the rotation member having a passageway through which objects, such as tools, may be passed within the production tubing. Support braces couple the rotation member to the production tubing and allow the rotation member to rotate within the production tubing. Magnetic pickups are predisposed about the rotation member within the wellbore and a power conditioner is provided to receive currents from the magnetic pickups for storage and future use. The rotation member rotates due to the flow of fluid, such as crude oil, through the production tubing which causes the rotation member to rotate and induce a magnetic field on the magnetic pickups such that electrical energy is transmitted to the power conditioner, the power conditioner able to store, rectify, and deliver power to any one of several electronic components within the wellbore.